The Tall Man
by SecretForKeeps
Summary: Modern AU. FBI Agent Arthur Pendragon is sent to a small New England town to investigate a string of mysterious kidnappings. Assigned to work with him is local officer Merlin Emrys. But there's something strange about this case and the more answers they find, the more they realize something is very wrong. Something... supernatural. (Arthur/Merlin in future chapters.)
1. Prologue

Hello, I've long wanted to try a Merlin horror-type story, and as I'm rather fond of the idea of Slenderman, I thought it might be interesting to combine the two. I did a little research to hopefully make the story more realistic, so some things are an amalgamation of both real places/sources and fictional. However, due to my lack of familiarity with British geography and crime dramas, it will be set in the United States.

As a warning, I'm kind of just writing whenever I get the urge to do so in my free time, so I can't guarantee regular updates or that I'll even finish the story, though of course I'll do my best to not leave people hanging. But if you get frustrated by infrequent updates, you may want to back out now. Read at your own risk.

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

**Richmond Times-Dispatch**

**Sunday, June 8, 2014**

Fourth kidnapping has locals distraught

_Residents of Burke have been shaken by the news of the disappearance of seven-year-old Scott Stilinski. The young boy was discovered missing from his bed the morning of June 3 by his parents, John and Cara Stilinski, who called the police after being unable to find him in their home. "We weren't too scared at first," John Stilinski shared with us, "since he sometimes sleepwalks, and we usually find him sleeping somewhere in another room. But this time, we just couldn't find him anywhere, even outside." Police reports say that there were no signs of forced entry or exit, and a search of the surrounding area was conducted with no results._

_ This is the fourth incident of a missing child in 2014, and police suspect that the incidents are not unrelated. However, no clues have been found regarding either the identity of the perpetrator or the location of the missing children, and residents of Fairfax County continue to grow frightened and upset by these incidents._

* * *

><p>For all the strange things Arthur had ever seen during his work with the FBI, he was not a superstitious man. He did not believe in spirits or bigfoot or that breaking a mirror would cause anything other than perhaps a few minor injuries and some broken glass to sweep up. There were no aliens hiding at Area 51, and no secret government agency overseeing it all. So of course, he didn't even dream that while investigating a supposedly straight-forward case of child abduction he'd come face to face with the paranormal.<p>

It all started one morning in June.

He was in his office, pen scribbling hastily over the paperwork, with little regard for legibility. It was quite silent, aside from the scratching of pen on paper and the near-silent ticking of the clock. A knock sounded at the door, effectively disrupting the quiet.

The door opened before Arthur could respond and his superior sauntered in. "Pendragon," grunted Kil in brusque greeting. The older man dropped a file folder onto his desk. It landed with a heavy smacking sound, disturbing the other papers lying about. "Your new case," he announced. "I need you to go to Virginia."

Arthur frowned slightly. He had just finished tracking down a man charged with multiple cases of identity theft, so it seemed a bit soon to receive another case. He opened up the case folder to flip through the pages. The photos from several missing person reports stared up at him, all of them children, and all of them from around different parts of Fairfax County.

"Kidnapping? Shouldn't that be left to the local police?"

"It would be, if they were actually getting anything done. The fourth child has been abducted in the last five months, and the local authorities still don't have any leads." Kil leaned down over Arthur's desk, close enough that Arthur could smell the tobacco on his breath from his near-constant smoking. "Listen Pendragon, I know you're not the cuddly, kid-loving type, but you're a good agent and people are starting to get upset by this. I want the perpetrator caught as soon as possible, and I know you're the man for the job. I'm counting on you."

There was no getting out of it. Arthur nodded.

"Good man. It's close enough to drive, so you can take one of our cars if you like. Report back as soon as you find anything."

Having said what he came to say, Kil left as quickly as he came. He was not a man to waste any time.

Having received his orders, Arthur sighed and gathered up his things and, case file in hand, headed home to pack for his trip as well as he could, considering he never knew how long he'd be away. A few hours later, he was checking into a shabby little Virginia motel right off the freeway. While it wouldn't merit even a two-star rating, it had all the basics, and that was more than enough for him. He went out to grab a burger and a coffee from the diner across the street, then settled down to read through the pile of reports.

"Time to get to work," he muttered.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Fairfax County Police Department  
>Missing Person Report<br>File # 09-4793  
>Date Reported: 217/2014  
>Name of Missing Person: Andrew Sheffield<br>Sex: Male  
>Birthdate: 725/2007

Details of Incident: Was playing outside in backyard of home from about 16:00. First noticed missing around 18:00, when he did not come inside for supper when it got dark. Only one set of footprints found in snow in backyard, belonging to Andrew. Footprints did not leave the yard, nor return to the house.

Fairfax County Police Department  
>Missing Person Report<br>File # 09-4849  
>Date Reported: 323/2014  
>Name of Missing Person: Matthew Tanaka<br>Sex: Male  
>Birthdate: 43/2006

Details of Incident: At first assumed to be playing with friends, Matthew did not return home from school at the usual time (approx. 15:30). After being unable to contact him for several hours, parents called authorities at 18:42. Possibly related, parents report that Matthew had told them about "a tall man in a suit" that came to their house at night, but they had dismissed it as nightmares.

Fairfax County Police Department  
>Missing Person Report<br>File # 09-4882  
>Date Reported: 510/2014  
>Name of Missing Person: Maria Vasquez<br>Sex: Female  
>Birthdate: 415/2008

Details of Incident: Maria was playing in her front yard with her mother, Nina Vasquez. Her mother went inside to answer the phone. Approximately 10 minutes later she returned to find her daughter missing. After searching the neighborhood, she called authorities at 13:19.

Fairfax County Police Department  
>Missing Person Report<br>File # 09-4931  
>Date Reported: 63/2014  
>Name of Missing Person: Scott Stilinski<br>Sex: Male  
>Birthdate: 127/2006

Details of Incident: Scott was missing from his bed with no signs of forced entry or exit around the house. Also no indication of struggle, but no items were missing from the room. History of sleepwalking; parents first searched nearby areas. They called authorities at 8:22.

* * *

><p>Outside was dark, aside from the orange glow of the street lights, each with its own small posse of moths and other nighttime insects fluttering about. The motel parking lot was empty except for his car and one other, no signs of life or movement aside from the occasional breeze that disturbed the trees and the distant cars on the freeway. All in all, a lonely little corner of Virginia.<p>

Arthur Pendragon didn't much care where he was, as long as he had work to do. He was up late into the night, poring over the files and information relating to the cases that had already been accumulated. The basic facts were easily ascertainable. All of the victims were young children between the ages of six and eight, and all of them lived within the county of Fairfax. Arthur had already pinned a map to the wall, marking the locations where each individual kidnapping supposedly occurred. There didn't seem to be any noticeable pattern, but he noted that all of the spots were fairly rural and close to forest areas, which implied that the kidnapper could possibly be using the forest as cover to escape with the children undetected.

During each case, he knew that the surrounding forest area had been searched for signs of the child, but he wondered if they made any note of hints of other people who had been through there who may have been disregarded, hikers or fishermen, et cetera. He imagined it would be fairly easy to park a truck near the forest under the cover of going hiking, then overpower a small child long enough to bring them back through the woods and to the truck.

He made a note to look up all the popular spots for forest recreation and see where they were in relation to the kidnappings.

Of course, that still left many questions. He couldn't explain how a boy could be taken from a snow-covered yard without leaving any tracks. And if the kidnapper had been wearing a suit like Matthew had supposedly seen, it would stand out quite a bit in the forest.

Arthur stretched and looked at his phone. 3:05 AM the digital numbers told him. He would stop there for the night and get some rest.

He was just piling all the papers together in a way that he'd be able to sort them out again later, when the phone on his nightstand began to ring. He jumped in surprise. It was an older phone, and rather than a digital beeping, it made a loud, shrill ringing that cut through the still, nighttime quiet like a siren. He hoped there was no one in the room next door, because the sound was loud enough that it would have surely awoken them.

He grabbed the receiver and put it to this ear, ready to rant at whoever could possibly be calling him at this time of night. If it was someone at reception he would definitely be having a few words with the management.

"Hello?"

There was nothing but static on the other end.

"Hello? Hello, who is this?"

Still nothing. He listened carefully for even the sound of people moving in the background. Nothing.

He hung up the phone. Arthur looked at it a moment, before shaking his head, baffled. He needed some sleep. He could make a complaint about the phone to the staff later.

* * *

><p>"Agent Arthur Pendragon," he said, as he flashed his badge to the sleepy receptionist at the local P.D. It was barely 8 o'clock—he got up early that morning, despite his late night, and performed his usual morning ritual. A shower, a shave, then got dressed in a well-cut suit. Many other agents didn't care what sort of suit they wore, but Arthur could admit to himself that he'd always been a little vain and it never hurt to look well put-together when he was on the job. It looked like it was worth it, as the receptionist was looking rather impressed, eyeing him up and down.<p>

"How can I help you, Agent Pendragon?" she asked. She had dark, smooth skin and curly hair tied back into a neat bun. Her name tag read simply "Smith."

"Well, Miss Smith, I'm here to look into the recent kidnappings that have been occurring. I would like to meet with your department manager to get some background on the case."

"That would be me," said a new voice.

Arthur turned to see an older, balding man who looked as though he could go into retirement any day. But in spite of his seeming fragility, his eyes were clear, his gaze strong, and revealed years of experience on the job.

"I'm Greg Pellinore. Old Kil called me yesterday. I've been expecting you." To the receptionist he said, "Gwen, could you tell Merlin to see me when he gets back?" Then he turned to Arthur and beckoned him down the hallway. "Come. Let's talk in my office."

Arthur followed the older man down the hall and into a small room. He closed the door behind him.

"Take a seat," Pellinore said with a wave to the chair in front of his desk. He sat down behind his desk and started pulling together some papers. "To be honest, I'm glad you're here. We've been trying to solve this case for months now, and we don't have even a single lead. My officers are getting discouraged, the public is getting scared, and I think we could use a fresh mind to look over everything. Hopefully you'll spot something we've missed. Kil tells me good things about you." He handed several thick folders over to Arthur.

"I'm grateful for the cooperation. Most officers don't like it when the feds get involved." Arthur flipped through the folders, taking in as much as he could at a glance. "Is this all you have on the case?"

"Unfortunately, yes. We've accumulated a large amount of information about the kids and their families and the areas from which they were taken, but we still have no idea how, why, or by whom they were taken. It's as if the children vanished into thin air." The older police officer rubbed at his face tiredly. "The worst part is the fact that we're almost sure it will happen again, and we currently have no way of preventing it."

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Pellinore called.

The door opened to reveal a young, dark-haired officer, probably around the same age as Arthur. He glanced at Arthur and then looked to his superior. "I apologize if I'm interrupting something. You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Agent Arthur Pendragon, Officer Merlin Emrys," Pellinore said by way of introduction. "Merlin here has worked the most closely on this case, and he grew up around this area. He can tell you just about anything you want to know and help you get around."

Arthur wasn't too keen on working with anyone else, but he admitted that the man could be useful, at least for now. He nodded his thanks. "Is that everything?"

"For now, yes. Merlin will keep me updated and vice versa. I'll let him know if any of our other officers find out anything."

It was annoying, but he couldn't complain about the police doing their jobs. "Thanks again for your cooperation." With a nod, he stood and left the room, not bothering to check if the officer was following him or not. When they got outside to the parking lot and Arthur began to walk towards his car, the other man spoke up.

"We could take one of the police cars, if you'd like. Since I know the area, it might be better if I drive," he offered.

Arthur snorted. "If you don't mind, I'd like to be as inconspicuous as possible while investigating the case. Which means an inconspicuous vehicle." He cast a glance at Emrys's police uniform. "And it would be great if you could ditch the uniform."

He unlocked the driver's side door and climbed in while the officer sputtered. He started the car without warning and Emrys dashed to the other side to get in before he drove off.

"Hang on just as second," he said, indignant, even as he struggled with his seat belt. "I know you fancy feds look down on us regular officers, but there's no need to be rude. We're on the same side, working towards the same objective."

Arthur sighed. "I apologize for my bluntness. But I have much more training and experience and in the long run, you're only going to slow me down."

Emrys glared. "If that's what you think, why bother to work with the police at all?"

"Because I do admit that cooperating with the local authorities is the best way to get background information. You know the layout of the area, the geography, the people, something that I can't learn in just a few days." Arthur glanced at his passenger to see that he was not appeased, but he didn't have the time to soothe the officer's bruised ego. "Now, if you would be so kind as to point me in the direction of the first victim's home. And seriously, can you do something about your uniform?"

Emrys reluctantly told him to make a right at the next stoplight and began shrugging out of his police vest.

"As if _you're_ going to blend in with that fancy suit," he muttered.

Arthur ignored him.

* * *

><p>They pulled up in front of the house. It was a very simple two-story home. The neighborhood was fairly average, perfect for a lower-to-middle-income family. The yards were well-kept, cheerful, and it seemed like a safe enough area to raise children.<p>

But no one was outside. Despite it being a beautiful, sunny day, there was not a hint of life; no one tending the yard or walking their dogs, no children playing, even though it was already summer vacation.

"Doesn't look like anyone's home," Emrys said, peering out the car window.

"Well, it can't hurt to have a look around, could it?" Arthur stepped out of the car and walked up to the porch.

It had been months since Andrew Sheffield had been taken from the house. He was only six years old. Assuming he was still alive, he'd be turning seven soon.

"We had a lot of snow this winter," Officer Emrys said from behind him. "Andrew was playing in his backyard. He'd made a snowman and his footprints were all over the place. But it was just the one set of prints, and they never left the yard. I saw for myself."

Arthur nodded. That was basically what had been written in the report. A few photos had been taken of the scene, but it was impossible to follow the tracks in the snow from the photos alone.

"Well, nonetheless, I'd like a look at the backyard for myself, and in the boy's room as well. Hopefully there's someone home who'll be willing to allow us inside."

He rang the doorbell. They could hear a distant, tinny ringing inside. They waited in silence for several long moments. A dirty little angel figure with a welcome sign sat forlornly by the doorstep.

"I guess no one's—"

"Can I help you?" The door had opened abruptly, almost angrily. A tired looking blond woman peeked out at them.

Emrys stepped agilely around Arthur, a soft, gentle expression on his face. "Hello, Mrs. Sheffield. You may remember me. I'm Officer Emrys with the Fairfax Police Department. This is Agent Pendragon from the FBI. He's been brought in specially to investigate what happened to your son and the other children who have gone missing these past few months."

Arthur also arranged his features into a visage of empathy and compassion and stepped forward next to Emrys. Part of the reason he was such a good agent is that he could charm answers out of even the most distraught or recalcitrant witnesses. "I know you've been through a lot already, but we were wondering if we might have a look around and ask you a few questions."

She eyed the two of them warily, but opened the door wider to let them in.

The house was a mess. It was clear that it hadn't been tidied in some time. Piles of junk and trash were shoved against the walls and piled into corners, dust was collecting on the surfaces of tables and shelves. From the small glance Arthur got of the kitchen, the dishes had not been washed in some time and piles of empty boxes from frozen ready-to-eat meals were stacked on the counter. She led them into what looked like the living room, pushing piles of laundry off the sofa to make space for them to sit. They did so gingerly, afraid of accidentally sitting on some misplaced knick knack or forgotten meal.

"Sorry, I haven't gotten around to cleaning this week," Mrs. Sheffield muttered, though the place had obviously been neglected for more than just a week. "I keep meaning to get to it, but then I become distracted, and…" She sighed.

"We don't mind," said Arthur. "I'd like to get straight to the questions, if that's alright. I won't waste too much of your time."

She nodded brusquely, giving the go-ahead.

He pulled a small Dictaphone from his pocket and placed it unobtrusively on the table, to record the conversation. "Now, Mrs. Sheffield. Andrew was playing in the backyard from approximately four in the afternoon, correct? And you noticed he was missing at about six?"

"Yes."

"When was the last time you actually saw him? Did he come inside for any reason, or did you go outside to check on him at all between four and six?"

"No… Wait, I do remember him coming in again for something."

"At what time was this? And why did he come in?"

"I… I don't remember. Maybe around four thirty? I didn't actually see him, but I heard him come in and go out again and I remember I was annoyed because he tracked snow into the house."

"So he may have disappeared anytime from around four thirty to six, after briefly returning to the house. Mrs. Sheffield, what was your son doing in the backyard?" Arthur asked.

"He was playing."

"Playing as in…?" He let his question hang in the air.

Mrs. Sheffield rubbed her hands together. "He's not a very outgoing child. I'm afraid he doesn't have too many friends, so he made up a friend."

"He has an imaginary friend?" Emrys clarified, speaking for the first time.

"Yes. He would go outside and talk to himself. I'd actually thought about taking him to a child psychologist, but my husband…" She paused. "My husband said he would grow out of it. He said to ignore it, to not pay too much attention to it."

Arthur nodded. "Alright. One more question then. You said he didn't have many friends, but what about adults? Are there any teachers, neighbors maybe, that he spends time with? And would anyone fit the description of 'a tall man in a suit?'"

Emrys shot him an unreadable look at that question, but Mrs. Sheffield didn't notice. She took a moment to think about her answer. "No, I can't think of anyone. Sorry."

"That's alright, you've provided me with a lot of information. If you don't mind, I'd like to have a look at the backyard and your son's room." He reached for his Dictaphone to stop the recording and put it away in his pocket once more.

"Of course," she nodded and stood up. "This way."

They followed her up a narrow staircase, down a hallway to a closed door.

"This is his room. Please excuse me, I don't really like going in there. It makes me think too much about—" She cut herself off with a sharp inhale that was almost a sob. The distraught young mother covered her mouth with one hand, as if she could hold back her worst fears.

Emrys put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's fine, we understand. We'll try to be as quick as we can."

"I'll just be downstairs," she said shakily. With that, she turned and headed quickly back the way they had come.

"She's almost lost hope," Arthur shook his head sadly.

"Which is why we have to find her son as soon as possible," Emrys said with conviction. He opened the door to the room and brushed past Arthur.

Arthur eyed him for a moment, watching the police officer as he surveyed the room. He had been there before for the initial investigation, but his clear blue eyes scanned the room intently, as if looking at it all anew, searching for clues he may have missed the first time. He was a dedicated officer, that much Arthur was willing to admit. He followed Emrys into the Andrew's room and closed the door quietly behind him, so that they might not be overheard.

The room itself looked completely different from the rest of the house. Everything was covered in a thin layer of dust, revealing that no one had been in the room for quite some time, which was a bit of relief, since Arthur knew he was probably looking at the room as it had more or less been the day Andrew disappeared. It was a bit messy, but not so much like it had been long-neglected as the messiness of a young boy who won't bother to pick up after himself without being told.

Arthur didn't see anything immediately suspicious. He went to the window to look out. It was a view of the backyard, and from the second story, he could also see a bit out into the forest beyond. More importantly, it was entirely probable that someone in the forest could probably see into the second story window.

"Pendragon." Arthur turned around quickly at the urgent tone in the officer's voice. It looked as though he'd been rummaging through the books and papers and random items on the boy's desk. He was staring at one paper in particular, unearthed from beneath a pile of colored pencils. "Come take a look at this."

Arthur moved to stand at the officer's shoulder, peering at what looked to be a drawing made by Andrew. With an unskilled hand, the words, "Me and my Best friend" had been written on the top. Beneath them were two scribbled figures, one smaller with brown hair and a smiley face. The other was a tall, dark figure with long limbs and no real face drawn in. But the alarming point was that the other figure looked as though he was wearing a suit.

"'A tall man in a dark suit,'" Emrys quoted.

Arthur sighed and rocked back on his heels. "Well I'll be damned." They were one step closer to finding the kidnapper.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

April 7, 2008 Fairfax County Police Recording

911 Public Records provided by the First Amendment Center

_Operator: 911, what's your emergency?_

_Caller: Hello… Yes, I'm. I'd like to report an accident._

_Operator: Okay, sir. Can you give me your name and location._

_Caller: My name is Daniel Keefer. I'm… I'm not too sure of my location. I'm on Compton Road._

_Operator: Are you near the elementary school?_

_Caller: I think so._

_Operator: Alright, Mr. Keefer, sit tight. I have an officer on the way. I'll stay on the line with you until they arrive. Can you tell me what happened?_

_Caller: Um. It was so strange. There was a man in the road. I swerved to avoid him, and now my car is stuck._

_Operator: Are you or the other man injured?_

_Caller: I think I'm okay. But the door is pinned and I can't get out. I don't know about the other guy._

_Operator: Can you describe the other man?_

_Caller: He was tall. Really tall, over six feet easily. And he was wearing a suit._

_Operator: What about facial features? _

_Caller: I don't—_

_(muffled noises and static)_

_Operator: Sir?_

_(line goes dead)_

* * *

><p>"So we have a lead, though we can't exactly send out a search for a tall man wearing a suit," Arthur said.<p>

They were back in the car, Arthur following Emrys's directions to the next house, the home of Matthew Tanaka, in order to investigate chronologically. They had taken a look around the backyard, but found nothing particularly amiss. Taking a child from there discreetly would be a bit of a stretch, but it wouldn't be impossible either. Arthur wished he could have seen Andrew's mysterious vanishing footprints for himself, but there was nothing he could do about that.

"But my question is, how can he be both the kidnapper and the imaginary friend?" asked Emrys.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Apparently, he's not as imaginary as they thought. Hopefully one of Matthew Tanaka's parents will have a bit more information. It said in the report that Matthew talked about the same thing before he disappeared."

The two of them had tried asking Mrs. Sheffield a bit more about Andrew's "imaginary friend," but she didn't know much. Following her husband's wishes, she had more or less ignored the subject and never asked Andrew any questions about it.

"Yes, but they'd dismissed it as nightmares," Emrys responded. "We did as well."

"A child goes missing, and you dismiss one of the biggest clues as a nightmare?!" Arthur cried in exasperation.

"Well, to be fair, the full description wasn't just 'a tall man in a suit,'" Emrys argued.

"Well, what was it then?"

"Apparently, Matthew told his parents that there was a tall spider man in a suit with eight tentacles that came out of his back watching him from the woods. That's not exactly the kind of lead we can follow up on."

Arthur bit back the derogatory retort that he wanted to say and instead focused on his driving again. Nothing good would come out of arguing with the local officer about the police force's past mistakes. "It's down this road?"

"Yeah, turn left," Emrys said, quiet and to-the-point.

They pulled into the empty driveway of a quaint little one-story home. It was smaller than the Sheffields's, and in a more rural area, meaning there were more trees, more hiding places all around. They got out of the car and closed the doors quietly. This time, there really was no answer when they knocked on the door. Only silence.

Arthur huffed, then looked around. "He disappeared on his way home from school, right? He was presumed to be walking home when he was taken."

Emrys nodded.

"Do you know how to get to his school from here? Could we walk the same path?"

Emrys shrugged and looked away. "Sure. It's not exactly complicated, though it's at least a thirty minute walk."

"Let's do that, then. We can drive to the school and then walk back this way."

Emrys didn't say anything, just walked back to the car. Arthur glanced at him discreetly, but the dark-haired officer was unreadable, his face impassive and serious. Still, Arthur couldn't help but feel as though he were hiding something.

They made it to the school, a small building that currently stood abandoned and deathly silent, with none of the students or teachers around to give it life. They parked in the empty lot and got out.

There was only one obvious way that Matthew could have gone home from there, which was a little path bordered by the road on one side and the forest on the other.

"Do children around here often walk home on their own? Even the younger ones?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah. Until now, there wasn't much reason not to let them. I used to walk home too. It's a safe area, only a little traffic, but it isn't exactly well-off. A lot of the families have two working parents, so it's hard for them to pick their kids up every day. In my case, I only had one parent, though. I always walked home, even in the winter. My mom felt bad, of course, but she did what she had to do. At least then, she never worried about me getting abducted."

Arthur gave a soft "hm" of acknowledgement. While he certainly knew what it was like to have a parent who was too busy working to do something as menial as picking his son up from school, his family had never struggled financially.

They walked along the road in silence for some time. They were disturbed only by the occasional passing of a car or the cawing of a crow. The trees loomed up on one side, too dark to see clearly, too dense to pass through. Arthur had thought that perhaps Matthew had used the woods as a shortcut, but now he realized that couldn't be the case.

Abruptly, a small footpath appeared, cutting its way through the trees.

"What's this?" Arthur asked.

"It's a short trail, about half a mile long. It doesn't go anywhere, though. We searched it when Matthew first went missing and didn't find anything," Emrys explained.

Always preferring to see things for himself, Arthur hopped down onto the trail and began pressing deeper into the woods. A quick backwards glance told him that Emrys was following behind him. Then he turned his attention forward again, keeping his eyes peeled for anything that could be related to the case. It had already been several months since Matthew had gone missing, and if the police had already searched the area like Emrys said, the chance of him finding anything was incredibly slim. But for some reason, his instincts were telling him that he was on the right path.

His instincts had never let him down before.

The deeper they went, the darker it became. The trees blocked out a lot of the sunlight, making it hard to see. He couldn't imagine a small child coming down this way on their own, but it wouldn't be a bad place to hide.

Eventually, the path ended in a small clearing. There were no other ways out other than the way from which they'd come, and no signs of anyone having pushed their way through the dense forest surrounding the area. Arthur was about to give up and turn around when the Emrys suddenly moved around him.

"Look. This wasn't here before," he stated, gesturing to a paper that was stuck to a tree.

Arthur almost hadn't spotted the small, loose sheet of paper. It looked like someone had torn it hastily from a notebook and wrote on it in scratchy, messy writing.

"'Always watches. No eyes,'" Arthur read aloud. In the middle of the paper was a messy circle with two X marks on it, resembling something like a crude drawing of a face. "What the hell does that mean?"

The other man shrugged, but looked uneasy. "A prank, maybe?"

Arthur pulled it off the tree and folded it so that he could put it in his pocket.

"You're taking it?"

"Just in case. It's probably just some stupid joke, like you said, and if that's the case, we can always throw it out later."

"Arthur Pendragon. Cleaning up Virgina's forests one paper at a time," Emrys deadpanned.

"Haha," he said sarcastically. "Come on, let's get back to the road and finish the sweep. Maybe one of the Tanakas will be back when we get there."

* * *

><p>As it turns out, one of the Tanakas was home, but they were unable to gain any more information than they already had. Even pressing for more information about Matthew's supposed nightmares had proven futile.<p>

"_We just thought he'd been watching too many scary shows on the television," Mr. Tanaka had told them tiredly. "Some nights he would come to wake us up, saying that a tall man in a suit was scaring him. He said that he watched him from the forest, grew tentacles, and told him to come outside. We would look out his window, of course, but there was never anything there that we could see."_

"_How often did this occur?" Arthur asked._

"_He woke us up two separate nights, but I don't know if there were nights when he saw the man and didn't tell us about it."_

"_Well, thank you for your time. We're working hard to find the children."_

That was over an hour ago.

Now, they were sitting in a booth at Denny's, both with plates of food and hot mugs of coffee in front of them.

"So, Emrys," Arthur started.

"Merlin," he interrupted.

"Pardon?"

"Just Merlin is fine. There aren't many people who call me by my last name."

"Alright. Merlin. What are your thoughts on the case overall?"

"Oh, so you want my opinion now? I thought all your training and experience meant you were above us lowly police officers."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Don't be a smartass. I'm sorry for my attitude earlier, alright? Let's just say that I've been stuck with officers who were even more useless than you."

Merlin squinted at him. "I'm not sure if that was supposed to be a compliment or an insult."

Arthur grinned. "A bit of both? Now, can you answer my original question?" He took a bite of the burger in front of him, watching the officer thoughtfully as he chewed. Now that Arthur knew Merlin wasn't one of those useless lackeys there to throw off the feds while the police tried to close the case first, most of his animosity had fallen away.

This was the first time he had really had the chance to study the officer. He was slightly taller than Arthur, but Arthur had a broader build. He was muscled, not obviously so, like Arthur was, but definitely strong enough at least to perform his officer duties. He was of a thin and lanky build, more streamlined with long limbs, probably a fast runner, if Arthur had to guess. He had bright blue eyes and quite a striking face, prominent cheekbones that were only highlighted when he grinned, which he seemed to do fairly often—at Arthur when he cracked a joke at his expense, at their waitress, at a little baby who was staring at them from the next table over.

It was easy to tell that Merlin had become a police officer out of his genuine desire to help people, and not for any perceived glory or adventure. Arthur couldn't dislike those sorts of people.

"Well, it's definitely the worst incident that's occurred since I joined the force," Merlin started. "It's hard to comprehend how or why the kidnapper is doing this. Why these children? Why now? Is it another member of our community? I'd like to think that the children are still alive somewhere, being held captive, maybe out of state. But we don't know, do we? And what's worse is we don't know if it's over or if he'll strike again. On the one hand, we can't let another child fall victim, but on the other, if he's done doing whatever it is he's doing, we may never find him." Merlin was resting an elbow on the table, leaning the weight of his head in his hand. Arthur realized that the weight of this case was really bearing down on him, and had been all these past months.

"Well. No need to worry. I'm here now, so we'll get everything cleared up soon enough," he tried to joke.

Merlin smiled weakly. "I hope so." He turned to look out the window and took a sip of his coffee. The sky was bright and clear, the temperature pleasant and bearable, a few people outside walking past the Denny's windows. But he wore the same dark expression he had earlier in the forest.

"Merlin."

The dark-haired man turned back at Arthur's lower, serious tone of voice. "Hm?"

"There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?"

Merlin's expression went immediately from dark to pained and defensive. "It's probably nothing. Pellinore told me to disregard it, in any case. He said it'll just send us off on a wild goose chase."

"I'll be the judge of that. What is it?"

Merlin looked around warily, discreetly, but there were no other customers sitting near enough to hear, and all of them were absorbed in their own meals or conversations.

"Well. Something my uncle said to me had been bothering me, so I went and did a bit of research." He leaned forward. "It turns out, this isn't the first case of serial kidnappings in Fairfax County. Four children went missing in the early '80's and the culprit in those cases was never discovered either. The children are still missing to this day. No bodies found, nothing."

"You think it's related?"

"I can't say with any certainty, but the incidents are too similar to disregard, don't you think?"

Arthur nodded. "Can you get your hands on the old case files?"

The grin from before was back. "Of course. A friend of mine works in the Records Annex."

"Could you do it by this evening? I could drop you off at the station again and you could meet me at my motel room later."

Merlin tilted his head in consideration. "Should be doable. As long as he's there."

"Great." He downed the rest of his coffee, now gone cold, and stood up. "Then let's pay for this shit and get out of here."

* * *

><p>It was nearing five o'clock when Merlin showed up at his room. He had a box full of files in his arms.<p>

"Well, the secret agent life certainly isn't as glamorous as it is in the movies, huh?" he said, taking in the small room, lumpy bed, and furniture that looked as if it had been there since the '80's. It probably had.

"At least it has internet. You managed to get all the files?" Arthur asked, taking the box from Merlin.

"Like I said, my friend works there. He handles all the cold case storage." Merlin took in the map of the area, all the marked off places and notes pinned to the wall. He raised an eyebrow, seemingly impressed.

"Let's get to work then. Find out where each of these children were living and pin the location on the map using the green pins to see where they were in correlation to the recent cases, the red pins. Make note of all the similarities and all the differences."

Merlin rolled his eyes and gave a mock salute. "Yes sir, Agent Pendragon, sir." He pulled out the first folder in the box and settled himself down on the floor where he could spread everything out.

Arthur resisted the urge to chuckle. The officer was growing on him. The blond man grabbed a file himself, and sat down on the bed, before what Merlin just said got through to him. He twisted around to look at him again. "Merlin?"

The officer looked up.

"Just call me Arthur."

* * *

><p>Arthur's eyes were beginning lose focus from staring down at the papers for too long. He rolled his neck and blinked a few times. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Merlin stretch as well, reaching his arms above his head, pulling his shirt up just a bit, revealing a sliver of skin at the small of his back. He shook his head. It had been too long since he'd been with anyone, but he couldn't let himself get distracted now, just because he was tired.<p>

He glanced at the clock. It was already after eight, and the two of them had been reading through the case details for several hours. They couldn't stop though. He was sure that they were on the right track. Several new pins had joined the old ones on the wall, revealing that many of them were from the same general areas, and in one case, even the same neighborhood. From what he'd read, the children had disappeared under similar circumstances, quietly and inconspicuously, without the parents even realizing they were gone until later.

Still, his stomach rumbled, reminding him that some things couldn't be ignored.

"Hey," he said, breaking the silence. "I'm gonna order a pizza or something. You want anything?"

"Sure. Whatever is fine."

"Pineapple and anchovy, it is."

"Uh-huh," Merlin said, distracted. He was still reading through some papers, his brow furrowed.

Arthur grinned. He should really order something weird, just to tease Merlin for not listening. "You know, I admire your work ethic, but you can take a break, you know."

There was no answer. Merlin flipped a page and kept reading.

"Merlin?"

"I think you should take a look at this, Arthur," was the reply he got.

He stepped forward, all jokes set aside. "What is it?"

"This case goes back even farther than we thought. The officer in charge of finding the missing children in 1981 put together a list of all the past cases of unsolved missing children's reports in the area around Fairfax County. Two brothers went missing in '66, which is noted as possibly unrelated, but between 1953 and 1954, six children were declared missing and never found. In 1934, twenty years earlier, four children went missing. There's even a case recorded in 1909, when four children were supposedly kidnapped by a man called Jeff Sheppard, but he'd claimed innocence until the end and the children were never found. The last note says 1882 and the number five, so I'm assuming that means five children, but there aren't any details."

The wheels were turning in Arthur's head. "So… what? A cult? A child smuggling ring? If it's been going on this long, it's obviously not the work of a single man."

"I'm not so sure."

"Merlin, how can one man possibly be responsible for children who went missing over a century ago?"

Merlin had his head in his hands, his fingers curled around tufts of hair. He was muttering something to himself, and Arthur was slightly worried.

"Hey, don't freak out on me. I know it's a lot to tackle, but we—"

"It's not that." Merlin looked up at him, eyes pleading with Arthur to listen.

Arthur tilted his head, staring at Merlin in consideration for a moment. "There's something else, isn't there? Something else that you're not telling me."

Merlin started to rearrange papers in a move that was obviously more to do with settling his nerves than tidying up the notes. "I didn't want to bring it up. It was so stupid that I didn't even think anything of it at first. But the more I learn about this case, the more things start fitting together. They make sense in a way they shouldn't."

"Merlin, you're going to have to help me out here, 'cause I really have no clue what you're talking about."

"Have you ever heard of Slenderman?" he asked abruptly.

Arthur paused. "I… can't say that I have."

"He's a myth. Or an urban legend, more like. It got circulating on the internet and became pretty popular around areas like this with lots of forest land. When the children started disappearing, a lot of the older kids started to spread rumors that it was the Slenderman who was doing it. I think they started saying it as a joke at first, but as time went on and more kids disappeared, I think they even started to take it seriously."

"Okay," said Arthur hesitantly, still obviously confused. "I'll bite. Who is 'Slenderman?'"

"Slenderman is supposedly a very tall and slender man—thus the name—who dresses either all in black or in a black suit, but he has no face. Sometimes he has tentacles, sometimes he doesn't. But because he's so tall and thin, he blends in with trees very well. Supposedly he stalks his victims, usually small children, watching them from afar and following them for days before he takes them. No one knows what he does with them afterwards."

"I admit, it does sound a lot like our case. But you can't think that's what's actually happening, do you? I mean, it's much more probable that Matthew knew about this Slenderman, and then when a real tall man in a suit started following him, his mind combined fantasy and reality."

"That's not the only thing though," Merlin said. "Like I said, I dismissed it at first, myself."

"Then why the change of tune?" Arthur crossed his arms.

"Because this was also in the case folder."

Merlin held up a piece of paper. At first, Arthur wasn't sure what was so significant about it, but then it clicked. He pulled out the paper that he'd taken from the forest earlier that day and put them side by side. The one in Merlin's hand had yellowed a bit with age, but it was still clear that it was the same sort of paper, ripped out in exactly the same way. It had writing on it in the same scribbly handwriting. Only this time, it had a crude illustration of a stick figure man next to a tree and one word. _Follows_.

* * *

><p>No reviews so far, but a couple of follows, so hopefully some people are enjoying the story? Also, if anyone's played the Slenderman online game (it's free to download!), I'm sure you recognize some of the clues I've dropped in there. ;)<p> 


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**Fairfax Herald **

**Tuesday, 19 October, 1981**

Horror continues: third child missing

_Members of our Virginia community suffered another tragic loss as little Peggy Anderson, only six years old, was discovered missing from her room this morning. This is the third disappearance reported this year, following Benjamin Travis (8 yo.) and William Potter (6 yo.) Police report that they are, "doubling their efforts" in the search for the missing children, though they have yet to name any suspects. They are advising all parents to keep a close eye on their children and not leave them unsupervised for any long period of time. If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of the missing children, please contact your local authorities immediately._

* * *

><p>The two sat close together, eating slices of pepperoni pizza right out of the box.<p>

"The Slenderman story only started circulating in 2009! I looked it up! Tell me how evidence of the very same legend is here in a pile of notes from 1971, and why does it look just like the one you found today?"

Arthur slowly chewed a mouthful of cheese and pepperoni as he thought it over. He couldn't quite believe he was considering this seriously—he blamed it on the lack of sleep.

"I think it's just a lot of coincidences. The idea of a child getting kidnapped is scary, no matter the situation, so I can believe that an urban legend sprung up around the idea of a creepy kidnapper. As for the two pages, I think we should consider this case and the case from 1981 as connected, but it's really too early to say whether or not any of the earlier cases are anything other than unrelated incidents that occurred in the same area."

"Okay, but what are the odds of a small town like this having such a high number of serial kidnappings?"

"I admit, it's unusual and very unfortunate, but what you're asking me to believe is that a supernatural entity has been kidnapping children for over a century. Compared to that, unusually high rates of kidnapping are at least realistic. It's a lot more plausible that some psycho farmer began kidnapping children and then got his children or someone else involved to continue his work after he passed away."

Merlin sighed. "You're right, it's crazy. I feel crazy for even bringing it up. But I can't help but feel like there's something to the Slenderman story that's genuinely connected to our case."

"I say we forget Slenderman, the supernatural entity, and start looking at tall, slender men who live in the area with families who have been living here for several generations. I think it's much more likely we'll find our kidnapper that way. We can start a list of traits to look for in our suspect."

"And if we're considering the 1981 cases to be related, we should look for those born before 1965," Merlin said thoughtfully. He started scribbling the criteria they had been discussing onto a sheet of paper.

"Do you think there's a chance that the neighboring states have had similar cases?" Arthur wondered out loud. At Merlin's questioning glance, he elaborated. "What if he isn't waiting thirty years between each kidnapping, but is actually just moving around to different areas to keep people off his tracks? He grabs a group of kids from one area, then moves to a new area to kidnap a new group, maybe after the community becomes too guarded with their children or the police start getting too close or something."

"I guess I can check," Merlin said. "But these missing children have become a pretty well-known incident. If anything similar had happened within the last few years, even if it wasn't in Fairfax County, I think I'd remember hearing about it. Especially if the perpetrator was never caught."

Arthur nodded. "True. Maybe put in an inquiry just in case. We don't want to miss anything."

"Will do." Merlin took another bite of pizza. "You know, you're really good at your job."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Thanks?"

"Sorry. That was sort of out of nowhere, huh? I just meant that we got off to a rocky start this morning, and at first I thought you didn't really care about us small-town folks. But actually, you were just trying to get your job done as quickly and efficiently as possible, huh? I think we've made a lot of progress even in just one day. And that's what really matters in the end—not my department, not me, but the kids who are missing. So thanks." Merlin smiled at him.

Arthur was kind of floored. It wasn't often that he was genuinely complimented outside of useless platitudes. "I'm just doing my job," he managed to say.

"And I'm saying that's greatly appreciated. Take the compliment. There's no need to act surprised, I'm sure someone like you receives compliments all the time."

"'Someone like me?'"

"Yeah. Hard-working, reliable, handsome." Now Arthur really was speechless. Merlin had an amused twinkle in his eye as he continued, "I'm sure you're quite popular with the ladies, though I'm guessing you're also too much of a workaholic to get distracted by relationships, am I right?"

Arthur cleared his throat. "Let's get back to the case. I'll send an email report back to my superior. You work on that profile."

Merlin rolled his eyes, but did as instructed. Arthur pulled out his computer and began typing to distract himself. Merlin was right about one thing: he didn't like to deal with personal feelings during a case, but it wasn't the ladies he has to worry about.

* * *

><p>Merlin yawned for the umpteenth time when Arthur finally glanced at the clock, realizing how late it was. It was almost one in the morning and they'd been working non-stop. There hadn't been any revealing new leads, so it seemed like there was no reason to keep working when they'd be just as capable of continuing where they left off in the morning and with enough rest to help them concentrate more fully.<p>

"Let's stop here for tonight," Arthur said, breaking the silence.

Merlin glanced up at him, then his eyes flicked to the clock on the bedside table. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry, I didn't realize it was so late."

"It's my fault for keeping you," he said. "Will you be alright getting home? I don't want you to drive if you're drowsy."

"No, it's fine. It's less than ten minutes away. Small town, remember? And I doubt there will be many other drivers at this time of night."

Arthur frowned, but had nothing to say to argue with. He didn't really know why he was arguing in the first place.

Merlin was already shrugging into his jacket and zipping it up. "I'll be fine. I've lived here my whole life, and this will certainly not be my first time driving home at night. If it will make you feel better, I can send you a text message once I'm there."

Merlin's voice had been teasing, but Arthur was serious. "Please do," he said, pulling out his iPhone and creating a new contact before handing it to Merlin. The younger officer rolled his eyes, but typed in his number.

Arthur then sent a text so Merlin would have his number as well. The faint sound of a vibrating mobile was heard and he watched Merlin pull out his phone and add Arthur to his contacts with a small feeling of satisfaction that was not necessarily related to safety.

He walked Merlin out to the parking lot, the night air chilly for that time of year. No one else was in sight, which didn't necessarily put Arthur at ease.

"Get a good night's sleep," he said in lieu of a good-bye. "I'll meet you at 8 AM at the station so we can pick up where we left off."

"I'll be sure to set my alarm," Merlin agreed. With a tired wave, he turned and crossed the parking lot to one of the few other cars in the lot. Arthur watched until he'd started up the car and drove out of sight, feeling irrationally paranoid. He knew there was absolutely no need, and that Merlin was a trained officer and a local who was familiar with the area. But something just felt off about the town, and especially the forest at night. He glanced over at the trees looming on the other side of the road, pitch black where the orange glow of the street lights did not reach past the shadows.

Shaking off the eerie feeling, he turned back inside to get ready for bed himself. Perhaps the case was getting to him, though that wasn't exactly common. He was very good at detaching himself and did not often feel fear or paranoia while working on a case.

He brushed his teeth, pondering the details of the case once more. It wouldn't be the first time children had apparently vanished without a trace, but it was usually under more common circumstances where it would be difficult to gather the necessary evidence. For a child to disappear without a trace from a snow-covered yard was downright spooky. Did the perpetrator have a silent hovercraft? Was it an alien abduction?

Arthur shook his head at his own thoughts and spit the toothpaste into the sink. It was then he noticed the light of his phone screen, lit up with a new message. It was from Merlin.

_Miraculously, made it home alive, _it read.

Arthur chuckled, and sent a quick reply. He found he enjoyed the other officer's sarcasm. Among other things. He mentally scolded himself. If he wanted to solve this case, he needed to stop getting distracted. And that included getting distracted by certain blue-eyed cops. He shook his head again.

"I really need some sleep," he muttered, rubbing a hand over his face.

He stumbled into bed, turning out the light and rearranging himself until he was comfortable, but he just found himself staring up at the ceiling. Thoughts kept circling in his mind: The missing children, Merlin, Slenderman. He let his thoughts drift over everything that had happened that day until finally he drifted off into sleep.

* * *

><p>He jerked up in bed, startled awake by something. He looked around his room, completely dark except for the glow of streetlights sneaking through the gaps in the window curtains.<p>

The phone rang again, right beside him on the nightstand. It's shrill scream was enough to wake the dead, and Arthur certainly felt like a member of the living dead at the moment.

He grabbed the receiver quickly, wanting to silence the noise as soon as possible. "Hello?" he grunted, his voice still gravelly from sleep.

There was nothing but silence on the other end.

Arthur glanced at the clock. Once again, the numbers told him it was just a little past three in the morning.

"Hello?" he practically yelled in the phone. "Is anyone there? Is this some stupid prank? It's certainly not funny."

There was still no response from the other end. If he listened closely, he thought he could hear a very faint rustling noise, but it could also just static on the line.

"I'm hanging up now," he said to no one.

He slammed the receiver down, and then for good measure, he unplugged the cable from the phone. He could plug it back in in the morning. For now, he just wanted to get some goddamn sleep.

* * *

><p>Sorry for the short chapter, hopefully the next one will be longer, maybe as a nice little Christmas present to you all. But thank you very much for all the lovely reviews last time! I hope I didn't sound like I was pandering for reviews, it's just nice to know that people are reading. :)<p> 


End file.
